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Daily Bread

We eat it for breakfast lunch and sometimes even dinner. Australian's munch through a lot of bread. And there are so many different types to choose from. So what's the difference? Tash went to a bread factory to find out.

Comments

Wow I can't believe it - Dynomite

Wow! Never knew that about bread! BTN is awesome for learning!

- Audrey

bread is so yummy - Sam

bread is important!!!!!!! - katie

bread is da BOMB :P

- dillbet

bread is yum

bread is good

bread is good for my tum - konstance

weeeeeelllllll I LOVE BREAD it goes with anything and that makes it cool

- Matt

I LOVE BREAD!!! - CHRISTIAN

I love bread. but if u eat it every day, it gets really boring and tastes disgusting :) - Natalie

i love bread esspecially raisin toast - ...

Bread is great.and you can always eat it and its also good when you have a stomach bug....well when its toasted anyway......Bread is so good with anything which makes it even better!!!!!!!! All hail bread!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i bread!!! - Darcee

I LOVE WHOLEGRAIN BREAD - ashley

I love bread, it is yum :) - Natasha

i love bread - noah

I am going to make bread some day. Maybe the unleavened sort, since I don't know how to get yeast. - Elena

Yo guys I luv BREAD to! My family goes through 4 loaves a week (average = 1 loaf each)! I don't eat toast for brekky....I prefer Weet-Bix. But really, if I had to pick a fave bread, it would have to be rye bread!!! - Ashleigh

I don't eat bread everyday!!! Maybe I'm wierd =( - random1012

I love bread...i love bread - Callum

Bread Is Yummy and I Think that there should be more types of bread and there should be more healthy bread. So I think that it would be nice if there was more healthy bread. : ) - Courtney

I have a wrap every day for lunch and there pretty tasty - KK

bread is so delicious - Logan

bread and wraps are so yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - dominique

2 loaves of bread a week thats ridiculos my family eats over 7 loaves a week mainly because of my sister i bet no one could beat her in a toast eating contest she eats like 5 peices of toast every morning LOL LOL LOL :) - kitkat886

My family must not be average if the average family goes through 2 loaves of bread a week. We go through one a day!! - nikki

my families paranormal cause we go through 5 loaves a day :D

- emily aldous

2 loafes a week ha my family musnt be normal - darcy

Bread is nice! Well, at least the middle bit is! I hate the crust! It is so cardboard-ishhhh!!!!

CYA LATER!! - Cuddlyhugsx3

I never knew that bread had been around for such a long time, it's amazing! - Kat

I love Bread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Lucy

Broadcast:
Tue 21 Jun 2011, 10:00am

Transcript

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Take a look inside most Aussie lunch boxes and you'll find a familiar friend. But what is it? Bread! And it's a big part of our everyday lives, because it's easy to prepare and you can eat it with anything.

Australians have been making and enjoying bread for many decades. In fact, an average family goes through about two loaves of bread a week, that's more than 100 loaves a year! And it's been around for a long time. Egyptians have been eating bread for thousands of years. Since then it's been vital to human survival because these flurry slices contain some of the vital energy and nutrients our body needs for the day.

And that energy starts its life, here. It's a crop which we grow in Australia called 'wheat'. It's packed with carbohydrates, which our body burns to provide us with energy. Wheat grains are crushed and turned into white or wholemeal flour, which can then be used to make bread.

Making bread can be as simple as mixing together flour, water, salt, sugar and something called 'yeast'. Yeast is a living organism which helps bread rise when it's cooked. And this is what happens when you add it to warm water and sugar. Within minutes, you can see it start to bubble. That's the yeast growing and as it does it releases bubbles of carbon dioxide.

That simple bread recipe is basically the same one used at small bakeries or much larger commercial bread factories like this one. Both places make bread just like you would at home, but on a massive scale. They use big industrial mixers to combine the ingredients. Once the loaves are cooked, they go along conveyor belts where they're sliced and packed. Then it's onto the crates, ready for the supermarket shelves. That's where you'll find lots of different types of bread like white, multi-grain and wholemeal.

But with Australians eating so much bread, making sure we're eating the healthiest type is important. And there's a lot of advice floating around about which type we should be aiming for. One of the products you might have heard people recommend is whole-grain bread. Grains like wheat have three main parts in each tiny kernel. The white flour used to make most bread only comes from the middle bit called the 'endosperm'. But the other two parts of the grain, the bran and the germ, contain lots of the nutrients like fibre, iron and protein. So that's why many nutritionists recommend whole grain breads, because they give you the goodness from the whole grain.

Some people also recommend eating flat breads and wraps, rather than slices of bread. The reason for this is some flat breads can contain less bread per serving, so they have less energy in them and are therefore less likely to make you put on weight, if you're not active. It can also mean that you can fill-up on more of the nutritious fillings inside. But if your wrap is filled with something unhealthy, it's going to defeat the purpose! Of course the best way to know exactly how healthy your bread is, is to try making it from scratch at home!

It's the worst possible end to a long weekend away rocking up at the airport only to discover your plane home has been cancelled. That was the experience for thousands of Aussies last week and the cause of all those flight delays was a volcanic ash cloud on the other side of the world! So how did ash travel so far? And once here how did it ground our air transport industry?

As we heard earlier in the show volcanoes on land can cause a bit of trouble! But what about volcanoes in the ocean? We don't see the explosions and the smoke but these deep sea volcanoes are attracting a lot of attention. They're rich in metals like copper, silver and zinc so one mining company is pretty keen to get a hold of them. But what else could they be digging up? Kirsty takes a look.

Daily Bread

We eat it for breakfast lunch and sometimes even dinner. Australian's munch through a lot of bread. And there are so many different types to choose from. So what's the difference? Tash went to a bread factory to find out.

Now most of us know what to expect from the average day at school. Well, kids in some country places get into a few extra lessons that you might like to have a go at. They learn the ropes of being a cowboy or cowgirl and it's making a big difference to their lives. Tash checked it out.

Next week Australia's women's soccer team will battle it out in Germany for the World Cup. But one sport star in this elite squad is already a world champion. Her name's Ellyse Perry and she'll be the first Aussie to play in the World Cup in two different sports. Kirsty explains.